Ellen Komp 
July 9, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of California’s landmark marijuana decriminalization law, the Moscone Act, which reduced the penalty for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana from a felony to a citable misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine and no jail. The law, sponsored by then-Senator George Moscone and California NORML, was signed …
6/28/2025 – AB 564 has passed in the Assembly, by a vote of 74-0. Our effort to get the bill’s language incorporated into a budget bill to stave off a tax increase on July 1 did not prevail, despite last-minute support from Gov. Newsom. The bill is alive and will head to the Senate, starting …
Were you arrested for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana in California before 1976? If so, Cal NORML would like to hear your story. This year marks the 50th anniversary of California’s landmark decriminalization law, the Moscone Act, which was sponsored by Cal NORML and decriminalized possession of one ounce of marijuana from a …
UPDATED 7/8/2025 The following bills affecting cannabis have been introduced in California, and are moving through the legislative process: KEY BILL AB 564 (Haney) – Cal NORML-sponsored bill to halt a pending cannabis excise tax increase from 15% to 19%. Heading to Senate Revenue & Tax committee on July 9. Read more. HEMP BILLS …
WRITE TO YOUR LEGISLATORS AND GOV. NEWSOM AND ASK THEM NOT TO RAISE CANNABIS TAXES IN 2025 Update 5/8/2025 – AB 564, to halt a cannabis tax increase this year, passed through its second committee with another unanimous vote. It now goes to Assembly Appropriations. Meanwhile, the Governor and both legislative houses are finalizing their …
CLICK HERE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR AB 564 TO STOP A CANNABIS TAX INCREASE! EVERY SIGNATURE HELPS. The Cal NORML/ASA Lobby Day yesterday in Sacramento brought in a score of citizen lobbyists from across the state to meet with legislators or their staffers in support of AB 564 (Haney), to halt a pending cannabis …
A “Joint” informational hearing on March 11 before the Assembly and Senate Business and Professions committees on the CA Department of Cannabis Control’s new Condition and Health of the Cannabis Industry Report presented a grim picture of the state of the industry and its future. Asm. Mike Gipson (D-LA), chair of the Assembly Revenue & …
All Californians are invited to attend the California NORML/Americans for Safe Access Citizen Lobby Day on Monday, March 24 in Sacramento. The event will bring supporters from across the state to meet with their state representatives and make our voices heard on pending legislation affecting the rights of cannabis consumers in California. We have moved …
UPDATE 5/8/2025 – Please take action on our new alert targeted at the full legislature and the Governor, asking them not to increase cannabis taxes in 2025. California is set to increase its excise tax on cannabis from 15% to as much as 19% starting on July 1, 2025, as part of a budget compromise …
UPDATE: Read Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer’s testimony to the DWC, and an appendix of studies on cannabis and pain. See Deputy Director Ellen Komp’s letter on ties between the ACOEM and the worker’s compensation insurance providers. California is considering adopting enormously wrong-headed chronic pain treatment recommendations by the American College of Occupational and Environmental …